Saturday, April 5, 2008

Preview A Pool: Group B

Ireland leads this relatively easy group. Germany will look to get back to the playoffs, and Nigeria will be trying to prove they are better than they've shown so far in exhibition games.

Prediction: Ireland, Germany, Serbia, Botswana, Nigeria. Ireland and Germany should be going through. None of the remaining three seem to have the ability to take Germany down in order to take second. Like Group A, it appears there are two teams that are the overwhelming favorites to go through.

71 comments:

Premier Player
said...

Wow, ROI gets lucky again. How is it possible that they get the weakest pool 2 years in a row? The only negative is you see how playing in a good pool helped Norway last year. You get battle tested and if ROI walks through the pool stage again, will it hurt them come playoff time? If I had my choice, I would prefer one top notch team (no offence Germany) to play against in the pool. Book ROI a ticket to the quarter finals and a #2 team from another pool.

I watched a few of the premier games and i noticed that Ireland players were marked very tightly. However Collins was still able to score 4 in a matter of minutes I think it will take something special to take them down. Benno also dominated Holness through out the entire game. Ireland seem tough to beat.

I just looked at the schedule. We play the irish on the 24th at 930pm. The tournament starts way to early, I'm still at the winnipeg college writing exams till the 25th. This tournament is going to suck if people like me who are coming from out of town. Last year it started on the 26th or something. I come back to play fricken botswana. PERFECT!!! I hope our team can pick up its shit this year and make it into playoffs. I remember ditter in his young days. He is a Scary Mofo. The only way you can survive his tackles is by wearing a face mask and a full body shin pad lol. Good luck to both teams!

Hey is there anything in the rules about pro's playing. Kevin has rules about psl players on a team limiting them but what about the number of pro's (accelerators). Again Dennis Duckerin stacks his team so he doesn't look bad as a coach. All of the roi players may be almost Irish so why can't Dennis share the wealth to Northern Ireland team....his conscience I almost as big as his ego as a coach. Almost every other team is running with few psl player’s, 3 – 4 masters and then filling in the rest of the squad. Some of the teams have 1 accelerator on it but this is only a few teams. I thought this is for the spirit of the game and not for the hype of winning as a coach. I think Dennis has got the wrong idea again as he has in the past when coaching team of status that meant something. But then again he wasn’t much of a winning coach then either. It is sad to see such good skilled players having to be placed on one team (they are exciting to watch but come on). As I stated they could have been spread amongst the other Ireland team or possibly other teams. Eg Eddie Moya. Why is he on roi. Anyways good games on the weekend. Should be a good tournament for those teams who play on an even playing field for players.

Man, I agree with you that it isn't right to try and stack a team beyond belief in a tournament like this, but I don't think Dennis is the one behind it. It seems like you have some sort of unresolved issue with him or something, but look at Mike Collins, he is the one who puts this team together. I'm sure they meet the heritage requirements on paper, but most of their roster doesn't even sit on the bench with the team.

On a side note, just because Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland both have the name Ireland and are near each other, it does not make them the same country. There are actually a lot of terrorist attacks back and forth and they are just as different from each other as North and South America.

I understand what you are saying it is just that it always seems that any team Dennis is associated with has to be for his personal gain and look at me I am Dennis and not for the game or for the players. Always making comparisons to other and to things he has done in the past. As for the whole Northern Ireland and ROI we are playing in a fun tournament. We are not in the battle or fighting that is going on. This is supposed to bring everyone together and not separate or have people think about things like that. For many of these athletes they don't even know what is going on over there or probably have never been there or even born there. Most of the parents were born here. I also totally agree with you about the ones who don't dress and sit in the stands. That is totally not right. There are many other teams who don't have the best players or very young players and they are still part of the team and sit on the bench. But again this starts at the coaching staff.

First of all who is ditter? Clearly he aint shit if no one has heard of him. Based on the tourny so far ireland for sure will be going through in the group but it will be a fight for that second spot. Everyone is counting on Germany going through but i wouldnt be sure, they played like crap against botswana, and frankly serbia is coming together and they might suprise a depressing german side..

Well Ditter is one of older guys on Germany. He played for Eugene Seckler years ago. That is the team from Regina everyone talks about how good they were as they one went to nationals 8 years in a row as a club team and many of the players including him played on the provincial team and other high level teams. Yes many of those players are over 40 and the young guys don't know who these players are but they were a dynasty in Saskatchewan soccer. These guys were awesome when they were young. Many of them are playing on various teams this year and they almost all played on Canada 2 years ago when they won the silver at the WPC.

FIFA has a special dispensation for the entire island, so Northern Irish can play for the Republic and Republican Irish can play on the Ulster Irsh team. The family connections are quite intricate and beyond territorial lines. Ethnically, the Irish are entirely homogeneous with 2 fundamental differnces in Northern Ireland: 1) The Ulster Uniononist see themself as British Irish and 2) they are most often Protestant (anglicans), where as in the south they are Republicans (not in the US sense) and they are mostly Catholics. The vast majority of People in Northern Ireland would like to unify with the Republic and break the ties with the British Monarchy, but The Ulster Unionist control the power and this is what the war has been about for centuries now. Anyway, sorry for the history lesson, the main point is that the Irish (both the republic and northern) are a special case.

to the person refering Ditters stats, how many players actually played soccer in Saskatchewan at the time? ya maybe hes good back in the day but the game has changed more faster, physical, and more numbers playing these days.

"First of all who is ditter? Clearly he aint shit if no one has heard of him. Based on the tourny so far ireland for sure will be going through in the group but it will be a fight for that second spot. Everyone is counting on Germany going through but i wouldnt be sure, they played like crap against botswana, and frankly serbia is coming together and they might suprise a depressing german side.."

Looks like we have an anti german. Not man enough to leave a name in your comment. Frankly you aren't shit either because nobody knows your name. You are probably like every other ballwatching douche. Too Bad man.

Interesting you say that...he only was on the field for 4 minutes in the entire game...look a zerr he did nothing and walked around in that game and in todays game. The old guy did way more running then he did in both games.

zerr is full off himself nothing but over rated i think his coach blew smoke up his ass when he was u-14 he thinks he is good,i remember a year when he got cut from the sask program maybe he should of looked in the mirror then i would take ditter anytime over zerr!!

As for Germany they need a big win on Thursday. If they get their heads on straight and play hard ball right from the start they can do well to advance. I totally agree. He may be over 40 and a master but do you see the movement and disturbance on the field he causes. People yell he sucks from the stands but i have known him for years and that just makes him want to play harder and more agressive to win. He is not there to make the big goals (has most masters have their touch taken away do to age), he distracts the defence and opens the play for others. He set up their 1st and 3rd goals against Serbia the other night. I would take Ditter any day before Zerr. I know that he made every Sask provincial team he tried out for. Besides that canada games teams also and countless national championships. I guess Zerr can't say that. Rembember a veteran and experienced player brings way more to the game before someone with a big head and being way over confident. Look at Canada two years ago. 5 Master players, silver medal. Not saying it was all them but they had a lot to do with that. Just did not have the legs to finish things in the final.

back to this dennis thing have you known him to coach young teams and develop them and see what they can do from what i have seen is he only puts himself on teams that are going to win and then talks about what a good coach he is or says look at me what have you won i have done all this does he even have a coaching license beyond a prov b if he was any good why does he not have a national b or higher!!

I totally agree he only want the teams that will win and not try and build a team. He walks around with a head the size of the soccer facility and thinks he is the great coach out there. His past proves he is not as he has nothing to show for it. The only thing he has is the ROI team. That is not saying much either as they are a totally stacked team. Share some players and stop thinking you are the best out there. It is a tournament for enjoyment and not who can stack what team and win. But that is Collins and Dennis's philosophy when it comes to soccer.. Me, Myself and I

I totally agree he only want the teams that will win and not try and build a team. He walks around with a head the size of the soccer facility and thinks he is the great coach out there. His past proves he is not as he has nothing to show for it. The only thing he has is the ROI team. That is not saying much either as they are a totally stacked team. Share some players and stop thinking you are the best out there. It is a tournament for enjoyment and not who can stack what team and win. But that is Collins and Dennis's philosophy when it comes to soccer.. Me, Myself and I

Ok call players.....thats a good one..they all talk about heritage but all of their dressed player are not heritage as those are sitting in the stands getting drunk...all of the other teams have their heritage players on the bench and dressed....the philosophy is wrong for a tournament like this...make a team and go as a club to provincials then and not stack a team like this for friendly tournament like it is suppose to be bringing friends and old teammates back together along with their fans. The only fans ROI have are either their girl friends or the drunken players who never dress but are their "heritage" players. Again always away around the rules. That’s brutal, but that again is Mike and Dennis thinking of themselves.

The only person who is on the roster who does not dress is Collins' brother. Get over it, it's one person. There are plenty of players on the Laos team that are heritage players who hardly see the field... What's the difference?Also you're saying that a team should not have the best team possible? Who wants to enter a tournament with a crap roster? No one would ever want to make a team with weak players! It just does not make sense. Everyone tries to make their team the best they can possibly be... It's just that ROI has probably done a better job than the rest.

I agree completely with that statement. If you are making a team to represent your country you don't say to yourself "well I guess I will just find the shittiest players possible". Who would want their country represented in that way? I am in disbelief that you are actually saying that if good players come out for your team you should cut them and take worse players. Makes no sense? Also 12 of ROI's 16 players are of heritage. Defend yourself on that one.

I will believe that if you can tell me which 12 players are heritage. I could point out quite a few who aren't, like Brett, Tristan, Benno, Matt, and Eduardo. That makes 5.. So even if the others are all heritage, which I doubt they are, they are still short.

I just don't think stacking a team beyond belief does anything for the tournament. Nobody wants to see one team crush everyone they play by more than 5 goals. Obviously no one wants to make a shitty team, but why would you want a team that everyone hates because you are too stacked. It takes away from what this tournament is all about.

I am saying why would someone want to take part in a tournament where they walk all over everyone without a challenge. Why doesn't ACFC Milan just drop down to men's division 4? That way they could easily win every game and come out with the league prize money and all that. It would be a good investment in indoor. I mean the fees are like $40 cheaper per player and the prize money is the same. So they could save a lot of money that way. (I know Milan wins Premiere anyways, it was just an example so don't waste your time pointing that out).

The point is that soccer, and this tournament especially, is not about winning the whole thing, it is about competition and the fans and the game in general. But if you really want to win it all, there are all stars all over the world that could come and walk all over everyone here if you really want to take the time and effort to do that.

what i dont get is why people here keep whining about how stacked ROI is... why dont you guys just train hard and get better so you can step up to them... the only team that is getting nothing out of this is ROI since they have no competition, they are not learning anything from this tournament, as for other teams they see how good players play and can learn from ROI

Nothing against the notion that a team could possibly train hard and become better, but let's be realistic now. You have players that have been training at a good level since their youth all combined on one team, the majority of the time they will win no matter how hard their opponents train.The level of soccer in this tournament is not the best, or the most talented. Like Dave pointed out, it's the environment and the fans that make the tournament enjoyeable.Everyone wants to win, and good for the ROI that they decided to make the best team possible; yet at the same time I would personally rather play a game with energy and emotion that comes down to the wire; rather then be winning 7-0 at half time.

Coming from a true Chilean that means a lot. If you want to make the games closer you could weed out the bad teams instead of breaking up the good teams. Make the tournament of better quality rather than thinning it out.

But Regina does not have the ability, yet, to field 20 teams of that caliber of players, let alone keeping it all heritage. This tournament is more about the culture and the fans and it is not fun for anyone when they put together a team of true heritage for the good of the game and the fans only to get walked all over and embarrassed by a stacked team of non-heritage semi-pro players.

Bring all the talent we can bring, but don't put all the best players on one team. Or we could just have a 5 team tournament of all the best players and cut everyone else from it, but thats what PSL and Premiere should be for. This tournament should not solely be about destroying everyone else, and if ROI really wants to keep doing that, change their name to team USA so it is at least culturally realistic.

not anonymous: I am sorry if Ireland fills a good team with heritage players that play in the PSL level. with the exception of 5 players. besides look at laos do you actually think there all Laosian? how about team Asia? do you think Scotland, Norway, and even Nigeria filled there legiate spots on there rosters? its just a Regina tournament get over it.

That is the point. It is just a Regina tournament. We all go to watch good games and no one enjoys seeing the same team destroy everyone every game. Good on Scotland for playing well and keeping in it last night. I know Laos doesn't completely meet the heritage, they only have 9 Laocians and then other Asian players which was approved by Kevin. Either way, they also stacked their team a lot. Teams are going to keep doing this because a couple teams are just too good and then you get the problem of all the good players on half of the teams. Then there is a huge gap between the good and the bad. Like you said, it is only a Regina tournament, why not try to make it a good fun tournament rather than dominating the whole thing? Even if Laos can make a good game out of the final, even the second best team in the tournament is still a major under dog. Where is the fun in that?

I just don't see how the best way for a tournament to move forward is making the good teams worse rather than having everyone else close the gap. The thing is its mostly bad players who do the complaining. SO say for some reason some of the ROI and England guys switch to different teams. Do you think ROI and England will then pick up bad players? No. They will pick up more good players from out of town and the bad players who got cut to accommodate the incoming stars will be left with no team.

What England guys. Kash is one who people think he is good. That quarter final game he gave the 1st three passes he tried away...he is to be playing semi pro...man there is way better players out there...who is he or his father blowing to make that team. He has no concept...tries to make a 50 yard pass to old man Edmonds and feeds it to the corner to make him run. A player of his caliber supposedly should know a guy like that wants it to his feet. It just seemed like a night mare out there for him. He just kept giving passes away again and again. He could not handle the taunting from the crowd so he changes sides 8 minutes into the game and never came back to the fan's side of the field. He really sucks i can't believe people think that he is good. Some one will line him up like everyone wants to line up Collins and take him out. Just like Collins tried to do in the quarter final against Murphy his own team mate from the Accelerators. Then after the game Kash is all buddy buddy with Collins thinking that is ok to do (your own teammate). I can't believe that. Some one needs to finish those two off. Teach them a real lesson about physical play. Not the candy ass game they play.

your out to lunch buddy...what don't you understand. They both play like pussy's and Kash is suppose to be some big player. i think not. It seemed at the tournament that many, many people hate both of them..and they wald around like they are all and everything around soccer in Saskatchewan....does that help you

your out to lunch buddy...what don't you understand. They both play like pussy's and Kash is suppose to be some big player. i think not. It seemed at the tournament that many, many people hate both of them..and they wald around like they are all and everything around soccer in Saskatchewan....does that help you

I enjoyed the injection of out of town players. Fresh blood that we don't see all the time who made the game enjoyeable.I enjoyed watching a Chile match far more then a ROI match. The fans, the scores, and the celebrations were more enjoyeable then blow outs. My favourite match was Botswana vs Nigeria, it was just soccer with tough challenges and no useless hype.